Bottle filler and capper unit



BOTTLE FILLER AND CAPPER NIT a wm ATTORNEY.

June 24, 193.0. G. E. STRANDT BOTTLE FlLLER AND GAPPER UNIT Filed June- 25, 1926 s Sheets-sheet 2 INVENToR. M

A TTORNEYS June 24, 1930. G. E. sTRANDT 1,766,962

` BOTTLE FILLER AND cAPPER UNVIT Filed June 25,-1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 24, 193()l UNI-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE GUSTAV E. STRANDT, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO GHERRY-BURRELL CORPORATION, OF CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA, A CORPO- RATION OF DELAWARE BOTTLE FILLER AND CAPPER 'UN IT I Application led June 25,

` This invention relates to improvements in carrier mechanism for bottle filling and capping units,"\vith particular reference to manually operable mechanisms.

The primary object of this invention 1s to facilitate the manual presentation of bottles to filling and capping devices.

More particularly stated, the objects are to provide a bottle carrier adapted to receive bottles in sets and to present the sets of bottles successively to corresponding sets of'filler nozzles associated with a supply reservoir or tank and/to simultaneously present a previously filled set of bottles in a position for 'capping operations; to provide means for securely holding the bottles of each set 1n fixed relation to each other and in position for registry with the filler nozzles and in subsequent position for registry with a capper; to provide means whereby all of the bottles of the set to be filled and of the set to be capped may be simultaneously manipulated either vertically to their respective filling and capping positions or rotatively to carry filled bottles to a capping position and empty bottles to a filling position; to provide a manually operable turn table, having plural `sets of bottle supports, with lifting means adapted to be actuated by a manually operable crank; to provide said sets of bottle supports with convenient bottle holding arms adapted for simultaneous adjustment to either the bottle holding or the bottle releasing position; to provide means whereby variations in heightsof bottles of substantially the same capacities may be compensated by resiliently yieldingA automatic adjustments of the individual bottle supports; to provide means for insuring proper ppsitioning or indexing of the turn table after each rotative adjustment thereof; to provide means for securely supporting the turntable in either of its two positions of vertical adjustment; to provide means whereby a capp-er may be successively' brought into registry with the bottles of one set on the turn table while the bottles of another set are being filled; and in general to provide means whereby the manual operations of placing the bottles on the turn table, of lifting the turn table to present the 1926. Serial No. 118,446.

bottles for filling and capping operations and of rotating the turn table to carry the filled bottles to capping positions and empty bottles to filling positions may all be rapidly performed by inexpert persons without dani ger of breaking bottles, spilling milk or imperfectly filling or capping the bottles. l

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of apparatus embodying the invention.

f Figure 2 is a plan view of the turn table or carrier and associated bottle supporting and holding devices.

Figure 3 is a sectional View 011 line 33 of Figure 2. y

Figure el is a detail view of a modified bottle holding attachment.

Figure 5 is a. sectional view drawn on line 5-5 of Figure 4.l

Figure 6 is a detail view, in side elevation, of the lifting mechanism associated .with fragments of the capper supporting post, the turn table and one of the bottle holders, with the turn table illustrated in section drawn to a radial line intersecting a bottle holder.

Figure 7 is a plan View of the lifter plate with associated guides and doweling or positioning devices, the capper supporting post being illustrated in lcross section and the lifter plate post partially broken away.

Like parts are identified by the same reference characters f throughoutv the several views.

In thegeneral organization of the bottle filling and capping mechanism shown in the drawings the base 10 is provided with a filler or reservoir supporting post 11 and a capper supporting post 12, the reservoir 13 being mounted directly upon the upper end of the post 11 and indirectly connected for lateral support with the upper end portion of the post 12 by a bracket 14. The Cappel-15 may be of ordinary construction as to its operative mechanism but for the purposes of this invention it is provided with a swiveled head 16 mounted to rotate in a horizontal plane about the upper end of the post 12, and also having a cylindrical barrel to receive a spring actuated plunger 17 pivotally connected at` 19 with the capper operating lever 2O the spring 18 seats upon the lower end of the plunger 17 to hold the short arm of' lever 20 normally depressed. This lever 1s plvoted to the capper frame at 21-and is pivoted at 22 to a capper operating plunger rod 23. The lever is preferably in the form of a Iyoke through which the capper holding magazine 24 projects as clearly shown in Figure 1.

A bottle carrier or turn table 27 has a central sleeve or hub 28 through which the post 12 passes. This hub 28 is supported from a vertically adjustable sleeve 29 mounted to slide upon the post 12 and provided with a bracket 30 havin a steady rest 31 which partially encircles t e post 11. The table supporting sleeve 29 is vertically adjusted by means of a'screw 32 swiveled to the bracket 30 and threaded into the base 10 or into a suitable nut carried by the base. This screw may be turned by means of the manually operable crank 33.

The turn table is provided with two sets of arcuate rowsfof ,bottle supports, each mounted in an apertured radially extending turn table' arm 38. Each bottle support comprises a circular plate 40 having a depending annular flange 41 which ts over a tubular supporting member 42 within which a spring 43 is seated in a manner to resiliently support the plate 40.

The bottles are placed upon the plates 40 and are held in position thereon as heretofore explained. The reservoir ortank 13 is provided with an arcuate set of depending valve outlet nozzles 45 corresponding in number to the number of bottle supports in each set carried b 'the turn table and also disposed and space for simultaneous registry with bottles carriedl by such Supports. These outlet nozzles may be of ordinary construction. Each is provided with a valve which is adapted to be opened when a registering bottle is pushed upwardly against a valve actuating member 46 and to close automatically when the bottles are lowered out of contact to said member. Such nozzles are common in the art relating to milk bottle llers, and detailed description thereof is therefore deemed to be unnecessary.

After the bottles have been placed upon the holders 40, they are properly positioned and securely held thereon by a pair of oscillatory clamping rings 50 and 5J., each one of which has inwardly extending flanges 52 and 53 (Fig. 3) loosely engaged in open Slots or kerfs formed in the Vouter surfaces of the posts 54. These posts are supported by the turn table and their outer surfaces are cross channeled or kerfed to receive the inner marginal portions of the fianges 52 and 53. The ring 50 has bottle engaging arms 56, curved in a counter-clockwise direction, and the ring oscillates in that direction to move said arms into engagement with the respective bottles. The other ring 51 has similar arms 57 which 51 in a counter-clockwise direction, the associated arms 56 and 57 for engaging any bottle will be separated to allow a bottle to be removed and another bottle substituted. Then by oscillating the rings in the directions first above indicated,every bottle will be positioned by the associated pairs of arms 56 and 57.

` In order that the bottles may be accurately positioned when they are being held be tween the arms 56 and 57, the lower ring is provided with a pair of inwardly projecting fork arms 60 and the outer ring with a corresponding pair of outwardly projectingfork arms 61. A. cross head 62, located `underneath the rings, is provided at one end with an upwardly projecting pin 63, loosely engaged between the fork arms 60 and the other end of the cross head is provided with an upwardly projecting pin 64 loosely engaged be-` tween the fork arms 61. The cross head 62 is provided with a 4hub 65 having a conically expanded lower portion 66 normally seated upon the conically tapered upper end of a sleeve 67 to which the portion 66 may be clamped by a set screw 68 provided with a handle or handwheel 69 at its lower end, said screw having threaded engagement with the interior surface of the hub and also having a collar 70 adapted to bear against the lower end of the sleeve 67. Sleeve 67. is mounted upon the turn table` and preferably formed integrally therewith. The arrangement is such that any rotative movement of either of the rings 50 or 51 willbe transmitted in an opposite direction tothe other ring by means of the cross head 62and the associated lingers 63 and 64. lVhen the set screw 68 is actuated in one direction, it will clamp the portion 66 of the hub 65 to the upper end of the sleeve 67 and hold the rings against rotative movement. It will be observed from the above description that when the rings are in the bottle holding position in which they are illustrated in Figure 2, they may be secured in that position by the set screw 68 and when it is desired to readjust them, the hand wheel 69 will first vbe actuated to retract set screw 68, after which either ring may be manually oscillated to retract its clamping arms from the bottles and such motion will be transmitted through the cross head in an opposite direction to retract the held ar s of the other ring from the 125 bottles. u

When the bottles are being removed or replaced and also when the turn table is being rotatively adjusted, it will always be necessary that the bottles be out of contact with the filler nozzles 45. Therefore, means are provided for adjusting the turn table vertically. This is accomplished by means'of a manually operable crank 75 and a rock shaft 76 provided with cams 77 (Figures 6 and 7) which operate against the under side of a lifter plate 78 adapted to slide vertically on the post l2. The plate 78 is provided with depending guide arms 80 having flanges 81 which are adapted to bear against the sides of oppositely disposed horizontally disposed sleeve bearings 82, through which the cam operating rock shaft 76 extends. The sleeve bearings 82 are preferably formed integrally with the sleeve 29, from which the turn table is supported by means of the cams and plate 78 as above explained.

It will be observed that each of the cams 77 has a hub portion secured to the shaft 76 and a wing portion extending tangentially from the hub portion and having an outer bearing surface provided with a rounded elbow 85. The bearing surface engages the lifter plate 78. l/Vhen the shaft 76 is oscillated in a direction to lower the turn' table, the lifter plate bears upon the portion 87 of said bearing surface and When the shaft is oscillated in the opposite direction to lift the turn table, the bearing surface slides underneath the lifter plate until the portion 87 thereof engages a down-turned flange 89 of the lifter plate, said flange serving as a stop. rIhe horizontal portion of the lifter plate will then rest upon the portion 90 of said bearing surface, this portion being slightly inclined downwardly from the elbow l85. The turn table will then be automatically locked in the raised position inasmuch as its downward pressure tends to press the portion 87 against the stop fiange 81 of the lifter plate. To facilitate rotative adjustment of the turn table on the lifter plate78, a bearing plate 91 is preferably interposed. This plate has a central aperture through which the post 12 passes. The hub of the turn table rests upon plate 91 at the margins of this aperture. The plate extends outwardly and is provided with lugs 92 to engage depending projections 93 on the turn table, whereby the turn table and bearing plate may be caused to rotate in unison, the under surface of the bearing plate turning upon the fiat upper surface of the lifting plate 78. i

In Figures 4 and 5 I have illustrated an attachment 95 for engaging specially formed bottles such, for example, as conically tapered paper bottles. These attachments 95 are provided with upwardly extending arms 96 which may be secured by screws 97 to the clamping arms 56 and 57. The bottle engaging surface of these attachments 95 is formed in conformity to the contour of the bottles which they are designed to engage.

It will of course be understoodthat the filler nozzles 45 are in a circle concentric to the axis of the capper supporting post 12 and l that the capper is supported for capping operations in the same circle, although the capper is normally at a somewhat higher plane than that of the nozzle outlets. The bottles are supported by the table at the same radial distance from the axis of the capper supporting post and when the table israised the mouths of the bottles will be in said circle.

In operation, the bracket sleeve 29 Will first be adjusted by means of the screw 32 in accordance with the size or height of the bottles to be capped. The crank .arm or handle 75 will be swung in a direction to lower the. turn table until the lifter plate rests upon the bearing surfaces 87 of the lifter cams, and the bottles will then be placed upon one set of bottle supporting plates 40,-there being four of such plates for each set in the construction illustrated in thev drawings. The bottles will be secured and maintained in position -by rotating clamping rings 50 and 51 to carry the arms 56 and 57 into bottle holding position. The turn table will then be rotated until said bottles are brought into positions underneath the filler nozzles 45. The clamping arm 75 will then be actuated to lift the turnv table and thereby bring the bottles into engagelnent with the valve actuating members turn table and while the empty bottles'arebeing filled, the capper lever 20 will be actu-` ated rotatively to bring the capper successively into registry with the filled bottles and the lever actuated vertically in each position for the purpose of capping the bottles. By the time the capping operations have been completed upon the four bottles in the outer set, the inner setA of bottles will have been filled and the turn table may then be lowered,

The turn table will then be rotated a thecapped bottles removed and empty bottles substituted. Thereupon, the turn table 'will rotate another half turn and the filling andv capping operations repeated. The positioning arms 56 and 57 may loosely embracev the bottles, and the latter` may, therefore, be removed and replaced without changing the position of the rings and arms, except when adjusting the capper for bottles of` differing s/ize.

I claim:

1. In a bottle filling and capping unit, the

combination with a,support, of a bottlecarrier adapted for intermittent rotatlve adjustment on the support, a superposed capper post and rotatively movable in an are having the same radius as that 'of theiller nozzles,

carrier having an arm connected with the support for pivotal swinging movement about an axial line coincident with the extended axis of the bottle carrier, a capper actuator associated with said arm and adjustable therewith along' an arcuate path over bottles on the bottle carrier and means for filling bottles on the bottle carrier at the opposite side of its axis from that occupied by the capper arm and actuator.

2. In a bottle filling and capping unit, the

- combination with a reservoir provided with filler nozzles, a capper, a supporting post, a capper mechanism swiveled to said post and supported for capping operations at a distance from the axis thereof equal to the distance of the filler nozzles therefrom, said nozzles being concentric to said axis, a bottle supporting carrier adapted to convey bottles along a curved path concentric to the axis and into position for successive registry with the filler nozzles and capper, and means for raising and lowering said carrier to bring bottles into engagement with the filler nozzles and support them there While capping opera-l tions are being performed on other carrier supported bottles.

3. In a bottle lling and capping unit, the combination of a capper supporting post, a capping mechanism swiveled -t o said post and adapted to be swung horizontally about said post axisl for capping operations in a circle concentric to said axis, a reservoir provided with iiller nozzles disposed arcuately in the circle of capping operations, a vbottle carrier adapted to convey-bottles in a circular path underneath the circle in which the iller and capper mechanisms operate, and means for vertically actuating the bottle carrier to move bottles into and out of filling.

position.

and cappin ottle filling and capping unit,

,4. In a the combination with a supporting base provided With a pair of upwardly projecting posts, a reservoir mounted upon one of said posts and provided with an arcuate row of nozzles in an arc concentric to the other post,

a capper swiveled to said other post anddisposed for cappingbottles successively in the circlewoccupied by said filler nozzles and on the opposite side of the post therefrom, a bottle support rotative about the axis of the capper supporting post and adapted to convey bottles into and out of line with the nozzles and capper, and means for temporarily lifting said bottle support for iilling'and capping operations upon the bottles carried thereby. s p

5. In a bottle lling and capping unit, the combination with apair of posts, a filler reservoir supported by one of the posts and provided with an arcuately disposed set of filler nozzles concentric to the axis of the other post, a capper swiveled to said other a bottle supporting table rotative about the capper supported post and provided with sets of bottle supports spacedl from each other and from the post in correspndence with the provided with an arcuately disposed set of iiller nozzles concentric tothe axis of the other post, a capper swiveled to said other post and rotatively movable in an arc having the same radius as that of the filler nozzles, a bottle supporting table rotative about the capper supporting post and provided with sets of bottle supports spaced from each other kand from the post in correspondence with the spacing of said filler nozzles, and means for temporarily raising said table to bring the bottles of one set into registry with said filler nozzles and simultaneously allowing capping operations to take place on another set of bottles supported by said table, said table lifting means comprising a crank, a set of crank operated cams, and a lifting plate interposed between the cams and the turn table and guided for vertical non-rotative movements.

7. In a bottle filling and capping unit, the combination with a pair of posts, a ller reservoir supported by one of the posts and provided with an arcuately disposed set of filler nozzles concentric to the axis of the other post, a capper swiveled to said other post and rotatively movable in an arc'having the same radius as that `of the iiller nozzles, a bottle supporting table rotatively movable' about -the capper supporting post and provided with sets of bottle supports spaced from each other and from the post in correspondence with the spacing of said filler nozzles and means for temporarily raising said table to bring the bottles .of one setinto registry with said filler nozzles and simultaneously allowing capping operations to `take place on another set of bottles suptable securely in such position nozzles concentric to the axis of the other post, a capper swiveled to said other post and rotatively movable in an arc having the same radius as that of the filler nozzles, a bottle supporting table rotatively movable about the capper supporting post and provided with sets of bottle supports spaced from each other and from the post in correspondence with the spacingof said filler nozzles, and

means for temporarily raising said table to' ;tween the cam and table and guided for verti-Y cal ipon-rotative movement along the capper pos 9. In a bottle filling and capping unit, the combination with a pair of posts, a filler reservoir supported'by one of the posts and provided with' an arcuately disposed set of filler nozzles concentric to the axis of the other post, a capper swiveled to said other post and rotatively movable in an arc having the same radius as that of the filler nozzles, a bottle supporting table rotatively movable about the capper support-ing post and provided with sets of bottle supports spaced from each other and from the post in accordance with the spacing of said ller nozzles, and means for temporarily raising said table to bring the bottles of one set into registry with said filler nozzles and simultane ously allowing ,capping operations to take place on another set of bottles supported by said table, said table lifting means comprising a crank, a crank operated cam, adapted, when in table lifting position, to support the pending a reverse operation of the crank. n

10. In a bottle filling and capping unit, the combination with a base provided with a reservoir supporting post ard a capper supporting post, a sleeve vertically adjustable along one of said posts and provided with a radially extending bracket having a guide bearing against the other post, an adjustable screw swiveled to said bracket and having threaded engagement with the base ember, and a bottle supporting turn table uided by said sleeve and bracket and inter osed means for vertically moving the turn table to carr bottles into position for simultaneous filling andcapping operations.

11. The combination with a filler tank having an arcuate set of outlet valves of a turn table having plural arcuate sets of bottle supports positioned for successive registry of the supports of each set with said .out let valves and means for securing bottles on' the bottle supports, a capper supporting arm pivotally mounted above the center' of the turn table at one side of said tank and provided with capping mechanism at the same radial distance from the pivot axis as that of said tank outlet valves, and means for raising and lowering the turn table to carry the bottles into and out of the field of bottle filling and capping operations.

12. The combination witha turn table having plural arcuate sets of bottle supports and means for securing bottles thereto, of

associated bottle filling and capping iiiechanisms operative in different arcs of a circle concentric to a vertical line through the center of the turn table and at substantially the same distance as the bottles therefrom, and means for raising and lowering the turn table to carry the bottles into and out of the field of bottle filling and capping operations,

said table raising and lowering means being v adapted to securely hold the table in either the raised or lowered position, said capping mechanism having a supporting arm and an operating arm each movable in a horizontal plane about the vertical axial line of the turn table, said operating arm being fulcrumed to the supporting arm and provided with a pivoted resiliently yielding rotatable slide having itsaxis coinciding with said axial line of the turn table whereby the capper may be swung along an arcuate path and operated for capping a series of bottles carried by the turn table.

13. In a bottle filling and capping unit the combination with a rotative bottle carrier, of a laterallyy disposed filler tank support having a filler tank provided with nozzles overhanging the bottle supporting portionof the carrier on one side, a capper support located substantially in line with the axis of carrier rotation and a capper member connected with said support for swinging movement in an arc over another bottle supporting portion of the bottle carrier. n

14. In a bottle filling and caplping unit, the combination with a'filler tan of a set of supporting posts therefor, a capper supporting head swiveled to one of thel posts, and a capper operating lever in yielding pivotal connection with the head, and also having a laterally offset fulcrum carried by the head, and a bottle carrier for carrying bot- 

